lucetilogs | .lunch with the captain and the vampire slayer.

.lunch with the captain and the vampire slayer.

Who:

a_slayer_slays
What: Lunchtime Antics
When: June 2nd, Tuesday.
Where: The Fountain then to 7th Heaven
Summary: Kirk and Buffy are going to spend some bonding time talking about childhoods, school, and just general chit chat.
Rating: PG-13? It's Kirk. There's going to be some kind of booze and swearing and sexual innuendo somewhere in here.

Usually Kirk wasn't one that would find himself early for many occasions. Sure he would always be on time, show up on his bike, and make a really good impression on the girl he was meeting. Though here on this planet that had no Federation Designation Number? He found himself wandering around most the time looking for something to do.

So he had ended up early for the meeting place for the lunch date. Well, it wasn't so much of a date. Kirk just liked to tease Buffy that it was. He could tell the girl was a bit uptight in her "save the world" mindset. The Captain couldn't blame her. He was like that much of the time as well back on the Enterprise. Though here he figured he might as well help her unwind.

He glanced around and sat on the edge of the fountain. Kirk considered it an off-duty meeting, thus decided not to wear his golden Captain uniform. Instead he just wore the black undershirt and the black pants. His arms crossed over his chest as he waited for the other part of the equation. It seemed like everything was getting back on it's feet after the crazy shit that had happened.

"Good going, Jim." he muttered to himself. "Get stranded on a planet right when global world ending paradoxes happen."

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If anyone had stopped Buffy on her way to the fountain and had demanded to know why she looked so primped and put together on this day, she would have vehemently denied any primpage or put togetheredness. Okay, maybe she had spent a few extra minutes on the mirror-staring part of leaving the house, but impressions were important. Besides, she had to give a keen and close eye to the barely visible bruises along the left side of her face. Just to make sure that they were really barely visible. Yes, Buffy had plenty of explanations as to why she wasn't treating this as a date. Just a gathering of two non-broody people, planning to get up to some non-broody socializing. Hardly datetastic, if you asked her. Which no one did, anyway. Mostly because she had not given them the chance to ask; Buffy had stealthed her way out of the house, more than a little occupied with hoping she wouldn't have to explain to Angel how much of a not-date this was.

So, when she did arrive at the fountain (only a quarter of an hour late!), it was with a fresh smile and a tidy hairstyle. "Jim," Buffy began, closing that perpetually awkward distance between two acquaintances--those feet between them where they are both visible to each other, but not in range of non-yelled conversation. "I think this is the part where I comment glibly on the weather, but how's about you spare me that cliche? I wouldn't want to run out of them already."

She came to a casual stop beside the fountain and reached out the lean a palm against its edge.

Kirk flashed her his typical grin. The weather, huh? He had to admit that he never actually tried doing that on any date. Or non-date, as it were. His blue eyes quickly went down then back up at her. Interesting choice of wardrobe she had. As was her hair style of choice. He tilted his head slightly to the side at what he thought were bruises. It was hard to tell from the angle he was at.

"Actually, I've never started a conversation off on that. You learn a few things by just watching drunk bastards at the bar." he raised his eyebrows but grinned again. His arms uncrossed as he placed his palms on the rim of the fountain.

At the moment he figured it was best not to comment on her bruises. He suspected it came from that guy with the skull on his face. "I like the hairstyle."

"Thanks," Buffy responded well to his compliment and followed through in the time-honoured tradition of trading one piece of praise for another. "I like your liking of it." She smiled, touching a self-conscious pair of fingertips to the side of her hair. "It's a little easier to be stylish when people aren't trying to skin me alive."

But, of course, that was a strange and slightly jarring subject. The weather was probably a safer conversational risk than skin removal. The truth was that Buffy wasn't exactly the world's best non-date conversationalist. Pretty much every person of non-date material that she had ever encountered had gone a few rounds of kick-punch-and-bleed with her before conversation ever got involved. In light of this, her refreshingly non-violent interaction with Kirk was throwing her for a loop.

"What exactly does a person learn from watching drunks?"

"Which pick up lines are the worst ones in the book. You ever seen someone smashed on a Romulan Ale? Totally gone." Though he stopped and made a small scrunch of his face. "Alright, you wouldn't know about that. It's the most potent stuff in the entire Federation. It's blue too."

He couldn't help but enjoy the wonderment on people's faces whenever he told them about things from his home. It was like half the things that existed they had never thought of before. He especially loved gloating about his ship, but Buffy wasn't the type of girl that would think it a big deal to have the largest ship in the Federation. That was more of a topic of conversation to have with Faize or Crowe.

No, Kirk figured that Buffy would just be happy about hearing of the small things in life that have changed. Like alcoholic drinks.

Blue alcohol. She responded with a huff of surprise and gave Kirk a look as if to verify whether he was being honest with her, or not. Not that coloured drinks were new to a twenty-first century girl, but they were rarely the sort of drinks that had the moniker of "most potent" mixed in. Well, not that she knew, but she wasn't exactly an authority on booze. Having been intoxicated only two times (well, three if you count that wacky spell in the tenth grade), she was pretty much an amateur.

"Do you know the way to this restaurant? Because sometimes I think I need a GPS, just to get around this place. I've not managed to not get lost, yet."

"Yeah. I mapped out where that and the other bar was at in this place. I haven't met the restaurant's owner yet though."

With a brisk motion he stood and motioned with his head for her to follow him. He figured offering his arm, while it was gentlemen like, would give off the vibe it was a date. He put his hands in his pockets and tried to ignore the wings on his back. Kirk liked to think himself as someone who could overlook details that didn't really matter. Wings weren't going to help or stop him from finding a way out of this place.

"So, tell me about the guys you live with."

Buffy followed with a lively, confident step. Her own wings bobbed as a nuisance at her back, but a tolerable nuisance as far as nuisances went. His prompt about her housemates, however, clearly brought a stiffness into her demeanor. So far, she had played off her vocation back home as a semi-joking affair. Trying to explain two vampires would bring a great deal of self-destruction to all of that.

"They're...complicated cases. Both of them. Really shady pasts, they were not the type you'd want to invite over for dinner. But now? They're changed. Good guys, fighting the good fight in their own ways." It was just vague enough to slip through interrogation, she thought.

"They're from my time--my version of home, but I hadn't seen either of them for a while before coming here. Angel had moved away years ago, and as far as I was concerned, Spike had died. It was one big confusing carousel to see both of them."

Oh look, an inviting subject change! "Do you live on your own, here?"

"Well seeing how you came back to life, I guess this Spike guy being alive isn't that big of a deal either." He glanced over at her at the question.

"Yeah. I have one of the rooms in the community buildings. No sign of anyone from my ship yet."

Though the more time passed the more Kirk was thinking he didn't want his crew here. Spock would quickly grow agitated fast. At least, as agitated as a half-Vulcan would allow himself. Sulu and Chekov would probably enjoy the shore-leave. Bones would certainly lose his mind and Uhura... Uhura would probably fit in. And that sort of of terrified him.

"No, I suppose not. Would you believe me if I told you that only one of the four people living in our current house hasn't died twice?" And so, she tested him with a question of her own, glancing slyly across at him as they walked. Buffy preferred being honest with people. The unfortunate downside of being honest was that people often mistook her honesty for insanity. No wonder she was secret-identity girl.

A corner of her envied his solo living quarters. After all, it must be nice to not be surrounded by the serious over-protection from Angel and the eerie personal insights from Spike; however, the majority of Buffy's self preferred her cared ones to be close. Oh, she wanted everything all at once and thinking about it gave her a headache.

"Is it lonely, being here without them?"

A silence fell between the two as he thought about it. He was lonely for most of his life, now that he thought about it. His father died, his mother was always off world, his step-father hated him and his older brother ran away from home. The first friend he really had was Bones. The rest of his time was spent getting in fights, drinking his life away, and well getting any company for the night he could find. Of the female variety of course.

In the day he met the crew of the Enterprise and the eight days he spent being their captain... they were like his family. A family that was off in space without him, on his ship. Spock should have taken over being Acting Captain by now. And hopefully they wouldn't come after him.

"Yeah." he finally said even though his eyes were out in the distance. "It is."

She spent the silence thinking about those back home, as well. Of course, Angel and Spike and Faith's presences were major boons to her comfort level. But there were heaps of tension. Buffy had pummeled and been pummeled by all three of them. They had all had their stint on the dark side. She was still undecided about whether she would actually want either Xander or Willow to arrive. Getting through things was always easier, together--but after the chaos of the last week, she wasn't sure she wanted to put anyone through that.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Jim." Buffy's sideways smile is slightly rueful. "I know I'm probably a pretty poor replacement for whatever folk you have back home. But at least lunch doesn't have to be solo, right?"

He looked back at her with a face of almost shock. "Who said you were replacing anyone? You're a friend. Different from them because you're not on a star ship, but still a friend. That means no one can replace you either."

"Well, I didn't mean I'd literally replace them, just--Hey, you know what?" Her smile brightened, and she nudged an elbow in his direction. "I'm not even gonna bother with the arguing, because I just want to bask in that niceness for the moment. It's nice to be referred to as a friend, considering I usually have a pretty tough time making them."

Buffy slid her arms comfortably across her chest, palms resting in the elbow crooks of the opposite arm. She kicked at the ground while she walked, sending pebbles a-skitter.

"No offense to your chosen profession, but I think living on a ship in space would drive me batty so I'm glad that I'm not on a star ship. Must get some awful cases of cabin fever."

He laughed a bit. Just the way he wanted the conversation to take place. "It takes some getting used to. Not everyone is meant for Starfleet either. I guess it was just always in my blood, being born in space and all."

Kirk looked at her with a small smile. "We do have shore-leave when we reach outposts or starbases. It's just like how can the old ships on the sea handle it?"

"So, if you're born in space, what nationality does that make you? A citizen of the Milky Way, or something? Or, can you be an alien if you're not actually born on Earth?"

She would come across as genuinely concerned over these matters. The details, the protocol, they interested her so long as she never had to operate within their potential restrictions. It was like learning about demon etiquette, only with less yicky demony slime. She hoped.

Besides, who wouldn't want to learn of the civilization of the future?

"Technically I'm a citizen of Earth. I was raised in Iowa by..." he stopped short and glanced up at the sky. "I raised myself."

Kirk thought that was the best way of explaining it in basic details. How was he going to say it without coming off crude? My mother was hardly there, busy being off-world. My step-father hated my brother and I and was abusive. No, that wouldn't work. Besides there was no point in opening old wounds that still hadn't fully healed.

"My mother and father were both members of Starfleet from Earth. Technically the USS Kelvin came from Earth."

Clearly, there was something more behind the curt explanation; Buffy was not going to pry. Even though the word 'friend' had been bandied around earlier, things weren't so entrenched that she could press for details. That would come later. Optimistically enough, she hoped for a later.

"Does it happen often, kids being born in space? Or are you a special case?"

"Sometimes it does, space stations and stuff. I wasn't supposed to be born in space. The Kelvin was attacked and sent Mom into labor even though she was on the proper drugs that would make the pregnancy last until they came back to Earth." he shrugged. "At least that was what Mom always told me."

"Sounds eventful. For her, I suppose. Well, and you. Big shiny bright and cold world, after all."

She tapped her palms against herself, a restless habit that filled up the spaces between mildly awkward comments. At least it was a different kind of awkward to the sort that grew and mated and multiplied in the house. At least, this awkward was just her fault. She didn't really have the words to respond to what he was saying.

"I just had your run of the mill hospital beginning. In L.A., where I lived a pretty run of the mill California girl life. And then I grew up and got responsibilities. Not necessarily in that order, of course."

He laughed. "I'm pretty sure Mom wanted me to be born that way. Having to give birth on a space shuttle while the ship you were on is being attacked must have sucked."

Oh, he knew he downplayed it. He knew how much it ripped his mother up. He saw it whenever she was drinking at home when she wasn't off-world. Or sometimes how she would look at him and expect someone else to be standing there. At least she had been there for his graduation and promotion to Captain.

"What is it like living in places like L.A.? I only really lived in San Fransisco for three years."

"It's sunny--fashionable. People wear pairs of sunglasses almost bigger than their heads, everyone crash diets and the streets are miserably dangerous after dark. I only lived in L.A. until I was sixteen. I was kicked out of my school there, and my mother and I moved to a teensy little town called Sunnydale, where everyone wore the overly big sunglasses three months too late and the after-dark was five times more dangerous."

She was simplifying things. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if she wanted to let Kirk in on her big secret identity. Making friends was hard enough without the "one girl in all the world" speech interfering. Not that she was the one, anymore. Now she was just one of many. Or, rather, one in charge of many.

"About a year ago, work took me out of the country. I was in Scotland before I was dragged here. But California will always be home."

He smiled as they reached the doors to 7th Heaven. Glancing over his shoulder and giving her a smile, he pulled the door open. The topic of home really made him wonder about this place.

"How many people do you think consider Luceti home, Buffy?"

Kirk never would find this place home. It wasn't where he felt at home. There were no ways to push himself, to make himself known to the universe here. In the end it was just a glorified prison planet in his mind. At least he wasn't mining coal.

"Some people have been here for a long time. More than a year, I think. A year can make a huge difference--even if a year never made Scotland my home, I certainly did get a homey feel from Sunnydale after just a few weeks there. It's the people around you, I think."

She followed him into the restaurant, fingers lingering on the door to make sure that it did not shut too loudly. A habit picked up from spending so much of her extra-curricular time in a library.

"I have people here, of course. But Angel, and Spike, and Faith?" Buffy shook her head. "That's not so much a family as a recipe for major disaster--but, you? What do you consider home? Your ship or the place you lived before it? Can a ship be a home?"

"Really, I never thought I had a home." His voice dropped slightly to a softer tone. "I always wandered. Enlisting in Starfleet gave me a direction... but I didn't find a home until I had to save the Enterprise and the Federation. Sitting in the Captain's Chair is where home is. I can be me and know my crew understand me and my decisions. And if there was ever a problem with my judgment? I know they would take the helm for me."

He looked down at her with a small smile. "The Enterprise is home because of my crew. But even if all of them were here in this place... we aren't doing our mission. We're being held here unable to explore and be ourselves. That's why it'll never be home."

There was a small pause where he smiled a bit more. "Of course pleasant company like yours defiantly helps."

Buffy picked out a table, dragging a chair away from it in order to sit. His comments allowed her to reflect on their common ground. Sure, she wasn't a leader in the much of an official capacity, but Buffy was a leader. Well. Okay. Semi-official, with the creation of the Slayer Organization. But that was neither here nor there and certainly no where near the verbal component of this conversation.

"For your sake, then, I hope you don't have to have my pleasant company's help for long. If your chair of a home is where you'd rather be."

She sat, fingernails tapping the table-top once she was sitting. Buffy nodded in the direction of the empty seat across from her. "Grab a chair, Jim."

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